Friday, May 15, 2009

Mission: Accomplished

And, well, off he goes.

Whew.

After eight days crossing three countries, the Volo Papale is en route back to Rome, where it's scheduled to touch down shortly before 5pm local time. If his usual practice holds, B16 will be choppered to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for a couple days of rest before resuming his public schedule at the Vatican.

From Yad Vashem to Bethlehem, Amman to the Aida Refugee Camp, it's been an intense week -- controversies included... not to mention, by far, the most speeches a recent PopeTrip's seen, to boot.

While anyone who's missed any of the major texts can find 'em by scrolling down the page, the Holy See's posted every public word from the last week on its own pilgrimage portal, while CatholicTV and EWTN each have most of the stops posted for on-demand viewing.

Lastly, as always, all the coverage you've seen here comes thanks to the generous support of the folks who've lent a hand to keep these pages afloat, especially since last week's reminder on how the lights stay on 'round these parts.

To one and all who've each aided mightily toward that end, all the thanks in the world -- and now, with the week's Big News now in the books, the notes can finally be handled, so expect yours over the weekend. The response was humbling and an enormous help to get the shop out of the hole... but even so, keeping on remains a mountain to climb. Bottom line: thanks to one and all for the support, the encouragement, the prayers -- it never ceases to boggle the mind that our little piece of newsdom's gotten this far, but that's what always happens when, in one way or another, the church (read: everybody) makes a work its own.

Looking down the line -- because, well, there's always something to look to -- as many as four top slots in the Roman Curia are on-deck to receive new occupants within weeks of the Pope's return, and early reports point to another handful of Stateside shifts soon in the offing.

More on those as they're firmed up... for all the rest, as always, stay tuned.PHOTO: AP-30-

About Me

One of global Catholicism's most prominent chroniclers, Rocco Palmo has held court as the "Church Whisperer" since 2004, when the pages you're reading were launched with an audience of three, grown since by nothing but word of mouth, and kept alive throughout solely by means of reader support.

A former US correspondent for the London-based international Catholic weekly The Tablet, he's been a church analyst for The New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NBC, CNN and NPR among other mainstream print and broadcast outlets worldwide.

A native of Philadelphia, Rocco Palmo attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In 2010, he received a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis.

In 2011, Palmo co-chaired the first Vatican conference on social media, convened by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications. By appointment of Archbishop Charles Chaput OFM Cap., he's likewise served on the first-ever Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese, whose Church remains his home.